A long but good piece at The Federalist regarding the sad case of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, CO, one of several Christian-owned businesses being persecuted out of existence by an out of control leviathan state eagerly eagerly waging war on behalf of the official state religion – leftist sexular paganism. At least, that is, until islam supplants it. But for now, it’s do as we say, Christofascists, or we’ll attempt to make your lives hellishly unbearable. At several points, the religious zeal with which Christians are persecuted for the slightest of infractions are highlighted below.

We pick up the coverage after those currently so favored by the state – those given over to lifestyles centered around the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah – have engaged the organs of state in crushing those who have dared to prick their conscience, no matter how unintentionally:

The [Orwellian Colorado Civil Rights] commission was not above retroactive punishment, however. At the time, being found guilty of violating civil rights laws didn’t only mean the end of his Phillips’ life’s work. The punishment for refusing to make a special cake for a gay wedding was $500 and one year in prison per charge (jail time was only later amended out of the law when general public learned about the statue). [And since scores or hundreds of sodomites had been contacting the store demanding similar services, the number of potential charges was exceedingly large. Note that JAIL TIME was initially part of the punishment for being a heretic from the official state religion!]

The shop was not only ordered to alter its policy and start participating in gay weddings or else face debilitating fines, it was told to provide comprehensive staff training, ensure compliance, then file quarterly obedience reports with the government for two full years. In these reports, Phillips was to describe exactly which remedial measures the shop had taken to conform, and document the reasons any other patrons were denied service.

Colorado’s Thought Police would teach Phillips how to stop himself acting on any ideas that were heretical. [Indeed. This is not a reasonable response. This is the kind of ridiculous over-reaction that can only be motivated by an unholy, erroneous zeal]

The commission could only pass quasi-criminal judgments. In the end, these charges had to be authorized by the attorney general, who was charged with executing complaints and filing formal proceedings. In this case, that person was John Suthers, a Republican. He did. [And thus we see how the Republican party, almost always, fails to act in defense of any even vague notion of conservatism or in the interest of its largely Christian base, and instead serves as the vehicle of taking each advancing stage of the slow-motion leftist revolution and codifying it into all manner of law, procedures, business policies, etc, making it virtually irrevocable. Thus my increasing coolness to the idea that a Republican, any Republican, can save us, be our friend, or even be substantially better than the demonrat alternative, because examples like this are legion.]

“Freedom of religion and religion has been used to justify all kinds of discrimination throughout history, whether it be slavery, whether it be the holocaust, whether it be — I mean, we — we can list hundreds of situations where freedom of religion has been used to justify discrimination. And to me it is one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use to — to use their religion to hurt others.” — Diann Rice, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 7/25/14 [This is fantastic bullshit. Just sheer leftwing anti-Christian fantasy. It was a leftist ideology, Nazism, that caused the Holocaust. Leftism has killed and slaughtered orders of magnitude more people in its 200 year history than Christianity has in 10 times as long, well over 100 million in the 20th century alone. But that’s a truth too dangerous to allow to exist, and so it must be carefully buried, and a replacement – a scapegoat – sought. That’s us. As for slavery, it was Church itself that first postulated the idea of each person having inherent worth as a child of God, and a potentially redeemed one, at that, and which struggled against slavery, to varying degrees, for centuries. Want to watch slavery become legal again…..keep going down this road to neo-pagan barbarism.]

……..Like any self-righteous zealot, Rice functions without concern for the practical implications of her power. In a rational world, her nonsensical haranguing would be dismissed as the ravings of an ignorant freshman who was cracking open Chomsky for the first time. In this world, Rice is appointed by the governor to mete out punishment on once free men.

Rice’s attack is not unique. Christians are regularly compared to Southern segregationists and racists, when in reality the comparison is best reversed. Yes, the power of Jim Crow reflected popular will, but it was sanctioned by the state. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission is similarly empowered by the state to use its arbitrary power to destroy the reputations, businesses, and lives of those who happen to offend their sensibilities. [And they are far from alone. Note, these are appointed, not elected, positions.]

To anyone who believes the State of Colorado is a non-ideological arbiter of justice and laws governing discrimination rather than activists enforcing their own morality on others, consider this.

In 2015, a Christian activist named Bill Jack walked into three separate bakeries, one an erotic-themed shop, and asked for each to design a cake in the shape of a Bible….[with verbiage quoting verses perceived to be hostile to the same-sex lifestyle]

In all instances, the proprietors refused to take the project. And why should any American be forced to create something that clashes against their conscience? So Jack, obviously hoping to prove a point, filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Christians, after all, are also ostensibly a protected class in the state. [HAH! Shut up and pay your ever-increasing taxes, bible-humpers, and keep your faith to yourself……..for now. Later, we won’t even let you keep that.]

What to do? Well, the commission decided that bakers who discriminate against Christians were offended by content of the message and not the patron’s Christianity. At the same time, the commission claimed the opposite was true for Phillips, whom they asserted wasn’t offended by the gay wedding cake itself but rather by the sexual orientation of the couple……..

…….In other words, freedom of expression is contingent on a commission of unelected bureaucrats burrowing into the consciousness of those involved and ascertaining what they’re really thinking. A judge is then tasked with decide what expression of faith is acceptable.

Welcome to America, 2016…..

……This isn’t some phony cult concocting a new doctrine. Millions of Christians hold some form of a genuine, centuries’-long religious conviction that prohibits them from celebrating gay marriages. If you still support state coercion against them, then we might as well concede that religious freedom and true freedom of expression aren’t compatible with our new conception of a contemporary society. So the question is: Does the average American really believe society has a right to demand that a person paint or write a novels — or make cakes — that celebrate acts that undermine their beliefs? It might be too late for his business, but Phillips’ case will go a long way in letting us know the answer.

As for me, I already know the answer. The sexular pagan leftist state emerging all around us is the inevitable result of having a system of government deliberately divorced from God and His Law. This moment, this tragic end, this coming persecution, were baked into the United States at its founding. It is a testament to the awesome efficacy of Christian Truth that it took us this long to get here.

If you want a lesson in just how much hatred of Christians, self-justification, incredible lack of reason, and unwillingness to accept contrary evidence, there is in the culture today, go read the comments. Even when confronted with numerous instance of harsh double standards being applied to Christians, muslims not being held to the same standard regarding performing services for sodomites, etc., numerous commenters plainly refuse to see ANY bias against Christians in the culture. They are ardently religious souls.

Would that more Catholics had such faith.

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Yes. The zeal with which leftists practice their Faith is enviable. But I always wonder….. Why? I imagine it is because they will not become complacent (as Catholics have) until their enemy, the Church, signs on to all their sins. But, because the Truth is written on the human heart, even then, they will not be satisfied.

I’ve said it before… God-fearing Texans should move to get out of this increasingly horrific country and keep all of this crap out of here, before the roots grow so deep they can’t be rooted out except by the most dire measures

I understand your thoughts Nick, but unless you make Texas a Catholic confessional state, the inevitable result will be the same. Religious pluralism (and this includes all Protestant sects) always ends up diluting the Truth to the point of societal chaos. As Tantum said, this inevitable outcome was baked into the US at its founding. This is why fighting for “religious freedom”, although on the surface it sounds like a good idea, is an exercise in futility. It’s fighting for the very thing (religious pluralism) that got us into the chaos we are now experiencing.